Sweeter Than Wine
by SkyeElf
Summary: Every year a gathering is held at Hogwarts, to celebrate lives gained and mourn for those lost. Gabrielle and Oliver have quite a different way of mourning.


**A/N: I don't own anything. The pairing is a M&MWP – so give them a little shout out if you write this pairing. For mew-tsubaki.**

**The sweetest wine**

The night was long. Longer than most – , some believed it to be the new solstice, but, in reality, that's only because it was the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.

It was a day of both joy and heartache.

For the past two or three years, there was always a gathering at Hogwarts to honour the lives lost. Gabrielle went with Fleur, mourning for Fred Weasley, her brother-in-law.

It wasn't that she hadn't known Fred, for she did, and she'd quite liked him too – they'd shared a dance at her sister's wedding, but her manner of dealing with it was different. She didn't cry or sob. At least not where others could see her. She went off alone, indifference radiating from her, and only when she was alone did she allow herself to shed a tear. She hated it when people cried, and even more so when she herself cried. It made her feel weak. And feeling weak was the thing she abhorred most.

"Are you all right?"

Her hands sprang to eyes and hastily the tears were wiped away. She turned around to face her new companion.

"I'm fine." She said, taking a shaky breath. He held out a hand. She took it, and he placed a kiss on her knuckles.

"Good to see you again, Gabrielle."

"You too, Oliver." She said; her heart hammering. She'd met him at the battle, where her sister had tried to forbid her to fight. But both she and Ginny fought. And survived. She and Oliver had paired up during the battle, both surviving only because of the other's skill.

"I hate this." Oliver said, motioning to the castle. "I really do. I do feel sad to think of them all, but it wasn't farewell."

"I agree. We'll all meet up again somewhere… won't we?"

"You're correct. You know what I see?"

"Tell me."

"I see Fred banding together with Sirius, playing pranks on the poor unsuspecting inhabitants of the inbetween."

"You didn't say heaven." She noted. He nodded, sitting down next to her. "Don't you believe in heaven?"

"I do." He reassured her. "But we're all waiting for some big… explosion, aren't we?"

"The apocalypse?"

"That."

"What about it?"

"We'll be sorted there, as it were, to where we go. And there's no hat to fool."

She had no reply to this.

"Forgive me, Miss Delacour, I am rather…"

"Dour?"

He grinned. "Exactly." He opened his jacket and pulled out a bottle of sparkling wine.

"Why do you have that on you?" She asked.

"To fend off any tears I might have." He shrugged. "And, it's supposed to be a celebration, isn't it?"

"You sneaky bugger!"

"Now, is that the way a lady should speak?"

She glared at him. He started the struggle with the cork. Gabrielle sighed and took the bottle, easily puncturing the cork and extracting it from the tight passage. She tilted the bottle into her mouth, allowing the wine to flow down her throat.

She took one sip and smashed the bottle. Red liquid stained the tree trunk and grass.

"What the hell did you do that for?" He demanded. She shrugged.

"I wanted to."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're barmy?"

"Many times."

"And you won't do anything about?"

"Why in the name of all that is good would I change myself?" She asked him, using a voice one might use with a small child.

"Point taken."

"And the wine was sour."

"Killjoy."

"I have something much better than wine."

"It was champagne." He corrected her.

"My motion still stands."

"Enlighten me."

She curled a hand into his locks and drew him down, kissing him fully on the lips. He didn't expect – from behind it was quite comic. His arms flayed around, as if he was a bird and she his meal.

She pulled away, a dreamy expression on her face.

"That was…" Oliver began, then he cut himself off. "I want more."

Gabrielle smiled naughtily.

"Then what are you waiting for? The unicorns to lose their horns?"

Oliver grinned and swooped down, nearly kissing the life out of her.


End file.
